Bale tie stretcher



5. D. RUSSELL v V BALE 'rm smz'rcm Fil ed Feb. 7, 194'? Patented Apr. 25, 1950 2,505,209 BALE TIE STRETCHER Stanley D. Russell, Racine, Wis., assignor to J. I. Case Company, Racine, Wis., a corporation of Wisconsin Application February 7 1947, Serial No. 727,247

9 Claims. (Cl. 140-447) My invention relates to bale tie stretchers.

Bale ties are usually made of wire and after use are commonly discarded. However, often it is desired to save these ties and use them again. Used ties are usually kinked and badly bent which will prevent their use in this condition. It is desirable that bale ties be as straight as possible so that they will feed easily when tying the bales. The purpose of the present invention is primarily to straighten these ties.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide a bale tie stretcher which will be simple, rugged, small, and inexpensive in construction and durable, eficient and easily operated in use.

Further objects and advantages of the inventiton will be apparent from the description and claims.

In the drawings, in which an embodiment of my invention is shown.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a bale tie stretcher;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail section on the line 22 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but showing the parts in a different adjusting position;

Fig. 5 is an elevational view of the ends of a single loop bale tie brought close together prior to tying, and r Fig. 6 is an elevational view showing the tie completed.

Referring to the drawings in detail, the construction shown comprises an elongated relatively wide base I, such as a plank which may be about feet long, 6 inches wide and 2 inches thick, which may rest on the floor or any suitable support, a short rocker jaw 2 for gripping a bale tie 3, pivotally mounted on the base on the bolt 4, a relatively long actuat ng lever having a jaw 5 for gripping the bale tie, pivotally' mounted on the rocker jaw on the bolt 6, a coil tension spring 1 tending to urge the jaws 2 and 5 toward each other, and a plurality of bale tie loop-engaging hooks 8 mountedon the base substantially bale tie length from the clamping jaws, differently spaced both longitudinally and laterally with respect to the elongated base to enable the stretcher to be used with different lengths of bale ties.

The bolt 6 on which the jaw lever 4 is pivotally mounted and the bolt I on which the short clamping jaw is pivotally mounted are both on the same side of the clamping faces which en- I gage the bale tie 3, thus providin a compact,

rugged construction and a powerful gripping action. l

The short clamping jaw 2 is pivotally secured to a pair of angle irons 9 by means of the bolt 4 which extends through the vertical legs of the angle irons.

If desired, the angle irons 9 may be provided with a plurality of sets of holes .1 in any one of which the bolt 4 may be inserted, in order to take care of extra short or extra long bale ties.

The angle irons are secured to the base by means of bolts or screws Ill. The bolt 6, extending through the clamping jaw lever 4 and short clamping jaw 2 is provided with a shoulder at H to prevent binding of the clamping lever. The upper clamping jaw 5 may be secured to the clamping lever 4 in any suitable manner as by welding. Forward movement of the short clamping jaw is limited by engagement of the lower front corner of the jaw 2 with a metal plate [2 secured between the angle irons 9 and the plank I. The coil tension spring 1 is secured at its upper end in any one of a number of holes l3 in the lever. At its lower end it is secured to a post M which may be welded to the short clamping jaw 2.

Referring to Fig. 6, it will be seen that when the tied ends of the bale tie are freed from each other by unwinding the extending portion l5 of the tie and withdrawing it from the loop it, this unwound portion will be greatly kinked. "To straighten out this kinked portion, the loop I6 is slipped over one of the hooks 8 on the stretcher, the clamping lever is moved to the position shown in Fig. 4, the kinked end of the bale tie is inserted between the jaws, the lever 4 is pulled back to pinch the extreme end of the bale tie between the clamping jaws, and the lever is pulled back far enough to stretch the bale tie tightly and straighten out the kinks as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

When the lever is swung toward the direction of the hooks 8 the jaw 2 strikes the stop plate [2 and the jaw lever 4 continues to swing forward. This opens the gap between the two jaws, allowing the wire to be inserted. It is now merely necessary to swin the lever away from this hook. This operation will cause the jaws to clamp the wire securely. Further movement of the lever will obviously pull the wire tight and continued pulling will stretch it. It is well known that if a kinked wire is stretched, the kinks will be straightened although the wire may be reduced in diameter. This, in general, would not be objectionable. The spring I urges the two jaws toward each other so as to provide the initial grip of the wire. It is obvious that the harder the lever is pulled the tighter will be the grip on the wire.

Further modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art and it is desired, therefore, that the invention be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A bale tie stretcher comprising a support, a

clamping jaw pivotally mounted thereon, a lever pivotally mounted on said clamping jaw, and a second clamping jaw carried by said lever and cooperating with said first jaw to grip a bale tie therebetween and to stretch the bale tight by movement of the lever, both pivotal axes lying on the same side of the plane of the clamping surfaces of said jaws, the wide opening ends of the jaws being in advance of the narrow opening ends in the stretching movement of the lever.

2. A bale tie stretcher comprising a support, a clamping jaw pivotally mounted thereon, a lever pivotally mounted on said clamping jaw, a second clamping jaw carried by said lever and cooperating with said first jaw to grip a bale tie therebetween and to stretch the bale tight by movement of the lever, both pivotal axes lying on the same side of the plane of the clamping surfaces of said jaws, and spring means acting between said clamping jaws urging them toward gripping position, the wide opening ends of the jaws being in advance of the narrow opening ends in the stretching movement of the lever.

3. A bale tie stretcher comprising a support,

a clamping jaw pivotally mounted thereon, a lever pivotally mounted on said clamping jaw, a second clamping jaw carried by said lever and cooperating with said first jaw to grip a bale tie therebetween, spring means acting between said clamping jaws urging them toward gripping position, and stop means for engaging and stopping the movement of said first clamping jaw to cause the clamping jaws to separate against the spring resistance.

4. A bale tie stretcher comprising a base, two parallel spaced angle irons mounted thereon with upright legs of the angle irons opposing each other, a clamping jaw pivotally mounted on and between the upright legs, a lever pivotally mounted on said clamping jaw, and a second clamping jaw carried by said lever and cooperating with said first jaw to grip a bale tie therebetween, both pivotal axes lying on the same side of the clamping surfaces of the laws.

5. A bale tie stretcher comprising a base, two

. parallel spaced angle irons mounted thereon with upright legs of the angle irons opposing each other, a clamping jaw pivotally mounted on and between the upright legs, a lever pivotally mounted on said clamping jaw, and a second clamping jaw carried by said lever and cooperating with said first jaw to grip a bale .tie therebetween, said base being substantially the length of a bale tie and having a fiat supporting surface for resting on a flat support and having a fiat upper tie and having a flat supporting surface for resting on a flat support and having a flat upper surface on which the horizontal legs of the angle irons rest for supporting the lever in upright position, and a stop for limiting the movement of said first clamping jaw extending between the upright legs.

7. A bale tie stretcher comprising a base, a clamping jaw pivotally mounted thereon, a lever pivotally mounted on said clamping jaw, a second clamping jaw carried by said lever and cooperating with said first jaw to grip a bale tie therebetween, and a plurality of hooks mounted on said base at different distances from said jaws to accommodate loop bale ties of different lengths, said hooks being displaced laterally with respect to each other to avoid interference with a stretched bale tie.

8. A bale tie stretcher comprising a support, a clamping jaw pivotally mounted thereon, a lever pivotally mounted tomove independently of said clamping jaw, and a second clamping jaw carried by said lever and cooperating with said first jaw to grip a bale tie therebetween and to stretch the bale tight by movement of the lever, both pivotal axes lying on the same side of the plane of the clamping surfaces of said jaws, the wide opening ends of the jaws being in advance of the narrow opening ends in the stretching movement of the lever.

9. A bale tie stretcher comprising a support, a clamping jaw pivotally mounted thereon, a lever pivotally mounted to move independently of said clamping jaw, a second clamping jaw carried by said lever and cooperating with said first jaw to grip a bale tie therebetween and to stretch the bale tight by movement of the lever, both pivotal axes lying on the same side of the plane of the clamping surfaces of said jaws, and spring means acting between said clamping jaws urging them toward gripping position, the wide opening ends of the jaws being in advance of the narrow opening ends in the stretching movement of the lever.

STANLEY D. RUSSELL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 364,564 Allen June 7, 1887 418,794 Hearn Jan. 7, 1890 516,712 Tierney Mar. 20, 1894 610,881 Clark' Sept. 13, 1898 826,077 Wood 'July 17, 1906 1,276,301 Wise Aug. 20, 1918 1,686,581 Stewart Oct. 9, 1928 1,710,261 Kellogg Apr. 23, 1929 2,085,319 Kolstedt June 29, 1937 2,378,413 Lermont June 19, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 625,951 France May 2, 1927 729,068 France Apr. 19, 1932 

